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Recommended Component 2025 - Stereophile
Reviewers' Choice Award Winner – SoundstageHifi.com
"In a Class with the Best Subs Available"
MartinLogan's BalancedForce 212 powered subwoofer boasts two 12" high-excursion, aluminum cone woofers and two built-in amplifiers providing 850 watts of continuous power each, for a massive 3,400 watts of total peak system power.
"Recommended Component" Honors
Stereophile honored the BalancedForce 212 by awarding it the magazine's coveted Recommend Component status for 2025.
According to Stereophile, "JI [Jon Iverson] used two 140lb BalancedForce 212s with his own MartinLogan Prodigy loudspeakers, and was impressed with the results–especially with the newly remastered Led Zep catalog: 'Kick drum and bass were tuneful and heavy… yet there was no sense of bloat or bass 'effect,' and the tonal balance from top to bottom just felt right and real.'"
"One of the Best I've Tested"
"The MartinLogan Balanced Force 212 is one of the three best subwoofers I have ever tested," observes John E. Johnson, Jr., Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity, November 25, 2020. It is powerful, plays deep, distortion controlled, and is very flexible in terms of how you can set it up."
"The BalancedForce 212s are so flexible that I can imagine them—used in almost any room, and with almost any speaker—restoring the tactile impact and low-end reach that other subs usually leave by the door," reports Jon Iverson, Stereophile.com, October 4, 2014. "No imagination is needed, because nothing is missing."
"Required Listening"
"It is my judgment that the BalancedForce 212 is in a class with the best subs available to the home-audio enthusiast," notes a July 1, 2014 review by Kevin East for SoundstageHifi.com, which honored with 212 with its Reviewers' Choice Award. "The BF212 is one for the short list – it’s required listening for anyone who’s dead serious about the low end. Highly recommended."
Dual 12" Low Distortion Aluminum Cone Woofers
Dual low-distortion woofers pair a high-power magnet structure with 12" aluminum cone diaphragms to deliver huge excursion and sound output while preserving minute bass details, all without a hint of distortion. The cone material's exceptional damping properties ensure the smooth, non-resonant response necessary for seamless blending with high-resolution full-range loudspeakers.
These woofers, spaced 180 degrees apart in a 'BalancedForce' configuration, operate in exact opposition to nullify distortion causing cabinet vibrations and deliver pure bass energy. Traditional subwoofer enclosures suffer from an equal and opposite reaction to the cone's movement, generating acoustic vibrations within the cabinet. You feel this by touching the cabinet. Although the 'physics' of this phenomenon actually cause a subwoofer cabinet to resonate or even dance, most subwoofer designers apply weight or mass to the cabinet to minimize such disturbances, but still leave one byproduct: smeared bass. BalancedForce is an elegantly simple solution that removes the variable of cabinet vibration contributions from the acoustic equation.
Advanced Ultra-Efficient D-Class Amplifier
BalancedForce subs match powerful proprietary switching amps with incredible woofer drivers resulting in tightly defined bass while keeping distortion at the lowest possible levels. BalancedForce 212 features dual 850-watt amplifiers (one for each woofer) with a total system power of 1700-watts (3400-watts system peak).
Low-noise, high-power transformers and switching power supplies feature high-quality MOSFET transistors, noise-suppression networks, and control circuitry to provide tremendous levels of current with extremely low levels of distortion. Split power supply rails minimize distortion while maximizing switching efficiency. Military grade glass epoxy circuit boards, temperature sensors, and protection circuitry guarantee quality sound and reliable trouble-free operation.
PBK Room Correction & 25Hz Level Control
Although correct placement plays a key role in optimizing subwoofer performance, positioning a subwoofer often requires compromises. The optional MartinLogan Perfect Bass Kit (PBK, sold separately) uses a computer and microphone to listen throughout the listening environment and tailor the sub's performance to the unique acoustic properties of a room – resulting in clean, powerful bass down to the lowest frequencies.
Additionally, a built-in 25Hz level control allows listeners to adjust subwoofer output by ±10dB and compensate for excessive room gain by cutting output in the 20- to 30-Hz range, or to accentuate the feeling of deep-bass energy by augmenting those frequencies.
Custom Low-Pass Filters for Individual Loudspeaker Models
Custom tailored low pass filters are available for nearly every floor standing MartinLogan loudspeaker released in the last 30 years. These optional custom filters adjust the subwoofer's low pass settings to seamlessly blend with the roll-off characteristics of individual loudspeaker models. Filters are easily installed via a user-friendly process involving a USB thumb drive and are available for free download from MartinLogan.com/filters. Forty-six unique filters are currently available and additional filters will be added as new speakers are released.
Sealed Cabinets
Although ports are a convenient and cost-effective way of increasing low-frequency output, their reliance on resonant energy impairs bass quality. The BalancedForce subwoofer's sealed system exhibits less transient-blurring group delay while maintaining smooth, consistent response, regardless of music or movie source material.
Simultaneous LFE and Two-Channel Connections for Seamless System Integration
Robust connection and control systems allow simultaneous connection of both two-channel stereo music and multi-channel home theater and allows each source to have individual crossover and level settings, giving listeners a perfect performance in every application.
LFE input via RCA or XLR effectively uses no low-pass filter, leaving crossover control to the processor. Left and right RCA, XLR, and speaker level inputs integrate discrete user-adjustable or speaker specific custom-installed audiophile grade low-pass filters allowing different level and crossover points when playing back two channel music.
Unlimited Adjustments
Top mounted controls are discretely hidden beneath a smoked glass accent panel allowing easy access to fine tune the subwoofer's settings. Access the top mounted control panel by pushing firmly on the smoked glass panel. You'll find all of your standard subwoofer controls like Level, Low-Pass Filter and Phase, plus some that are unique to MartinLogan.
A unique tone sweep feature assists users in locating areas in listening rooms where troublesome rattles or resonances may occur. A single press of a button allows listeners to initiate a tone sweep from 120–20Hz. If a rattle or resonance occurs in the room a second press of the button holds the current frequency allowing the listener to investigate and identify the source.
An 'On/Auto (Trigger)/Off' switch controls the subwoofer's energy saving feature. The 'On' setting prevents the sub from entering energy saving mode. When set to 'Auto (Trigger)', the sub will turn on when a music signal is detected and off after several minutes without a signal. If a 12-volt trigger is connected, the triggering device will turn the subwoofer on and off.
Further flexibility is afforded by custom energy transfer coupler (ETC™) spikes, which can enhance stability on thick carpets, or create tighter coupling between subwoofer and floor to enhance overall sound quality.
Beautiful Finishes
High-gloss black cabinets and top trim are standard. Top trim is available in a variety of optional high-gloss, hardwood, and real-wood veneer finishes.
"A World-Class, Audiophile-Grade Subwoofer"
"The MartinLogan BalancedForce 212 is a world-class, audiophile-grade subwoofer that is a pre-designed success for legacy MartinLogan ESL (and other) loudspeaker designs, but don’t pigeonhole it to just matching with MartinLogan transducers," observes Jerry Del Colliano, futureaudiophile.com, February 2, 2025.
"It is easy to see how the MartinLogan BalancedForce 212 could be the anchor for sonic performance in any respectable high-end audio system."
